Availability issue forces Arizona to change lethal-injection drugs

PHOENIX — Arizona is changing from a single drug for executions to a
two-drug combination already used in Ohio because it is no longer able to obtain
the previous drug.

Attorney General Tom Horne announced Wednesday that the Department of
Corrections will use a combination of a sedative and a powerful painkiller to
execute condemned prisoners.

The two drugs will replace pentobarbital for use in executions at the state
prison in Florence.

The previous 11 executions conducted by the state since 2011 used
pentobarbital. But its sole manufacturer has refused to sell to states for
use in executions. Oklahoma and Texas turned to compounding pharmacies to obtain
the drug but Horne said in a statement that those pharmacies faced threats.